Etsy becomes first ecommerce company to offset 100% of shipping emissions

Etsy, a global ecommerce company headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, has become the first company of its kind to commit to offsetting 100% of its carbon emissions generated by shipping. Starting today, the company will track and make corresponding investments in environmental projects whenever its marketplace users ship their goods. These environmental projects reportedly include initiatives to protect over 10mn trees and support solar and wind clean power projects.

Etsy operates a global online marketplace through which vendors and consumers of unique, homemade and creative goods can exchange goods and services. In 2016, the company committed to becoming powered exclusively with renewable energy by 2020, and in 2018 achieved its goal of becoming zero waste across its operations.

Now, with 98% of its carbon emissions generated by shipping from vendor to buyer, Etsy is committing to counteracting its environmental impact.

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To celebrate the launch of the initiative, Etsy has offset shipping emissions for the entire US ecommerce sector for February 28. In the US each day, shipped items cover an average distance of over 102bn miles - enough to travel to the moon and back 133,000 times. The company’s investments will counteract the release of 55,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or the equivalent of protecting 100 square miles of forest for a year.

Josh Silverman, a spokesperson for Etsy wrote in a bog post: “While we are proud to be the first major online shopping destination to offset 100% of carbon emissions from shipping, we certainly hope we are not the last. Considering these offsets will cost less than one penny per package for Etsy, we don’t believe that cost should be a prohibitive factor for others to follow in our footsteps. For the benefit of future generations, how can we all afford not to take this action?”